‘Wonderful’ – Argentina women’s beach handball team win prestigious global award

The Argentina women’s national beach handball team have been named ‘The World Games Team of the Month’ for July 2026 following their recent exploits at the 2026 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Athlete/Team of the Month award is supported by Tissot, whose partnership recognises outstanding performances and achievements by The World Games' athletes around the world. 

Nicknamed ‘The Kamikazes’, the team coached by Leticia Brunati won gold at the global event adding to their impressive trophy cabinet which also includes the current The World Games title, won in China last year and continental title won earlier this year.

The results mean that the Argentina side are in rarified air – holders of all three majors titles at once: the world, continental and The World Games, with only the men’s and women’s teams of Brazil and Germany achieving that previously – Germany’s men are also current ‘trifecta’ holders too.

Brunati was also coach of the younger age team who are current title-holders of the Youth Olympic Games, won on home sand in 2018 in Buenos Aires, with a number of those gold medallists in her team now.

“It feels wonderful,” said Brunati to ihf.info upon hearing the news of the award. “The film and the feature on the IWGA website are amazing.

“I'm so proud of my team. We did it really well and are now enjoying all of what we have built.”

Now, thoughts for Brunati and captain Gisella Bonomi turn towards a possible defence of their The World Games title when the event returns in 2029 in Karlsruhe, Germany – with the South American side doing all they can to qualify for the global spectacular.

“The World Games is a unique experience and all the players want to be there,” says Brunati. “Every competition is better than before. Chengdu was amazing and Karlsruhe surely will be too. I never say; ‘We are the champion or we must defend the title’, I like to think we were champions, that we won it, but it is nothing now and we have to build another champion again and that involves a lot of hard work.”

“If we qualify, our goal won’t just be to defend a title – it will be to play the kind of beach handball that represents who we are,” adds Bonomi.

“Success also brings responsibility. We want to set a good example for younger players and show that consistency is just as important as talent.”

Argentina women follow in the footsteps of Brazil’s men with the team of the month award, their neighbours winning the same award 12 years ago, in July 2014.